Nick Reiner’s defense attorney withdraws from case
Nick Reiner attends AOL Build Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York on May 4, 2016 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
(LOS ANGELES) — Nick Reiner did not enter plea when he returned to court on Wednesday for the alleged murders of his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner.
The 32-year-old, who faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders, sat behind the glass, wearing a dark jumpsuit and sporting a buzz cut.
Nick Reiner’s defense attorney, Alan Jackson — who helped defend Karen Read in Massachusetts — withdrew from the case during Wednesday’s court appearance. Jackson is under a protective order to not talk about the case.
When asked if he agreed to delay the arraignment again, Nick Reiner said, “Uh, yeah, I agree.”
Nick Reiner is now assigned a public defender, Kimberly Green. He will return to court on Feb. 23 and remains in jail on no bail.
A Reiner family spokesperson said, “They have the utmost trust in the legal process and will not comment further on matters related to the legal proceedings.”
On Dec. 17, Nick Reiner made a brief first court appearance and waived the right to a speedy arraignment.
Since his last appearance, sources told ABC News that law enforcement and defense attorneys had been working to piece together Nick Reiner’s psychiatric and substance abuse history.
Nick Reiner has a documented history of addiction and substance abuse treatment, and friends have told investigators that his mental health had been deteriorating prior to the murders.
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14.
The night before the murders, Nick Reiner — who had been living on his parents’ property — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party, and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News.
Nick Reiner was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles hours after the bodies were discovered.
Rob and Michele Reiners’ other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, said in a statement last month, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing.”
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” they said.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life,” Jake and Romy Reiner said. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, April 20, 2025, in Windsor, England. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — While the latest release of Epstein files has touched off another round of controversy in the U.S., it has ignited a veritable firestorm in Europe, where the new tranche of emails, text messages, videos on photographs released by the Department of Justice has painted a far more comprehensive picture of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with members of the global elite.
And while a mention in the files does not immediately imply wrongdoing, last week’s data dump has led to a chorus of high-profile figures explaining, and in many cases apologizing for, their connection to Epstein. Reputations have been tarnished, in some cases irrevocably.
These latest files show the range and depth of Epstein’s extraordinary reach into the upper echelons of society. Among the new names from the European elite are Norway’s crown princess and the Slovak national security adviser.
For now, the repercussions are being felt the most acutely in the U.K., where a prince of the realm has lost his title and his home, a senior member of the governing Labour party has lost his position in the House of Lords, a police investigation has been launched into misconduct in public office, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer — whose name has not appeared in the released files — is now fighting for his political survival.
The recently published files have laid bare the extent of Epstein’s contact with the former Prince Andrew and former British Ambassador Peter Mandelson — touching off a crisis at both the heart of the government and the monarchy.
“The scandal seems to matter more here, with graver consequences, because it strikes at the monarchy, the British establishment and the political elite. It’s not just about the behavior of one disgraced man,” Robert Jobson, royal author and ABC royal contributor told ABC News.
There are difficult questions for the monarchy to face, Jobson said, “If senior royal family members and courtiers knew about Epstein’s activities and did nothing” and if they “chose to protect the monarchy at the expense of vulnerable young women.”
“If they did not know, then the institution they oversee is not merely flawed but dangerously incompetent. Neither explanation is excusable,” Jobson said.
Buckingham Palace’s most recent statement on the matter, which came on Oct. 25, announced the stripping of Andrew’s titles and said, “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
In rare public hecklings, both the king and queen have been asked whether they will help with the Epstein investigation. Neither responded. It is extremely unusual for them to be approached in this way, and royals very rarely respond to such questions.
The only senior royal to address these latest revelations has been Prince Edward, who responded to a reporter’s question by emphasizing his support for the victims, saying, “I think it’s all really important always to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this? A lot of victims in this.”
“The central issue in the Epstein scandal has never been Andrew alone,” Jobson said. “It is the question the Palace has spent more than a decade avoiding: What did the late queen and King Charles know? And when did they know it?”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was stripped of all his titles last October after some of his email exchanges with Epstein were leaked to the press. He vacated his home at Royal Lodge on Monday, and will now live on the King’s privately owned Sandringham Estate.
The scandal, which has hounded the royal family for decades, erupted after one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexual assault. In 2022, Mountbatten-Windsor, who has always denied any wrongdoing, settled a civil suit with Giuffre.
“The Queen personally funded Andrew’s legal defense. She later allowed him to walk beside her at the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in 2022, a move widely interpreted as an attempt at rehabilitation. It has now backfired, blown up in the King’s face,” Jobson told ABC News.
Mountbatten-Windsor, then Prince Andrew, told the BBC’s Emily Maitlis that he cut off all contact with Epstein in 2010, shortly after Epstein completed his sentence for solicitation of a minor in Florida — but last week the Department of Justice released emails between the two dating from 2011 and correspondence between his team and Epstein as recently as 2017.
“The press is piling on me in the states.. nothing to do. just want to make sure you’re ok,” Epstein wrote to Andrew on Feb 28, 2011.
“I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me!” Andrew replied to Epstein. “It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it!…keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”
In another exchange, Epstein sent Mountbatten-Windsor a message encouraging him to have dinner with a friend, about whom he said, “She 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy.”
Mountbatten-Windsor replied he would be “delighted.”
Last week, following the emails’ release, a second woman came forward to accuse Epstein of trafficking her to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor, according to the BBC. Her lawyer, Brad Edwards told the BBC, “We’re talking about at least one woman who was sent by Jeffrey Epstein over to Prince Andrew. And she even had, after a night with Prince Andrew, a tour of Buckingham Palace.”
Thames Valley Police released a statement saying, “We are aware of reports about a woman said to have been taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes. We are assessing the information in line with our established procedures.”
Buckingham Palace has not commented on any of the latest revelations, telling ABC News that they no longer represent Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The former prince has yet to publicly comment on these latest documents.
“The scandal is not defined only by what Prince Andrew may have done,” Jobson said. “It is defined by what the institution chose to conceal. And that question has still not been answered.”
Peter Mandelson
While the monarchy has been trying to contain the damage, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been fending off criticism for his appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as the British ambassador to the U.S. in 2024.
“I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never been anywhere near government,” Starmer told the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Nicknamed the “Prince of Darkness” by the British press, Mandelson has long been a controversial figure and many questioned Starmer’s choice of ambassador at the time — but the prime minister maintains he did not know “the depth and the darkness” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.
He apologized twice on Thursday for his misjudgment, telling reporters, “The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend, and they’ve had to relive it again and again.”
“They have seen accountability delayed and too often denied,” Starmer said. “To them, I want to say this: I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.”
The prime minister told the press that Mandelson had downplayed his friendship with Epstein, saying, “He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew, and when that became clear, and it was not true, I sacked him. Such deceit is incompatible with public service.”
Mandelson was removed from his post as British ambassador last September, following the release by the U.S. House Oversight Committee of Epstein’s so-called “Birthday Book,” in which Mandelson referred to Epstein as his “best pal”.
The emails released last Friday show that Epstein and the former ambassador and government minister communicated for years, including after Epstein had pleaded guilty to sex crimes in Florida in 2008. The exchanges between the pair have led police to launch an investigation into potential misconduct in office.
On May 9, 2010, while Epstein was still on probation in Florida, he emailed Mandelson to say that “sources tell” him about an imminent 500 billion euro bailout. A person whose identity is redacted replied that the bailout will “be announced tonight.” The person says later that they are “just leaving No10”, presumably referring to the prime minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street.
The European Union announced a 500 billion Euro fund to stabilize the Euro that day.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Monday that it had “received a number of reports into alleged misconduct in public office including a referral from the UK Government” and that “the Metropolitan Police has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former Government Minister, for misconduct in public office offences.”
The statement does not mention the Mandelson, 72, by name.
On Friday the Metropolitan Police announced they were searching two properties in connection with the investigation.
Bank statements also appeared in the recently released documents which appear to show Epstein transferred as much as $75,000 to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.
Mandelson submitted his resignation to the Labour Party on Monday, writing in his resignation letter, “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.”
The Speaker for the House of Lords in Parliament also announced that Mandelson had submitted his resignation from the chamber.
“Britain has dethroned a prince, forced Mandelson to resign, & lost confidence in Starmer because @RepThomasMassie & I forced the release of the Epstein files,” U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna posted on X Friday. “What is America doing to hold the Epstein class accountable?”
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a House Republican retreat at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on January 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(MINNEAPOLIS) — President Donald Trump said the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was at fault because she tried to “run over” the officer, according to an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday.
“I want to see nobody get shot. I want to see nobody screaming and trying to run over policemen either,” Trump told the publication, calling it a “vicious situation.”
State and local officials have pushed back on the assertions from the White House and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calling the claims about the driver “b——-” and telling ICE to “get the f— out” and Gov. Tim Walz calling it “propaganda.”
The fatal shooting was captured on video by bystanders. In the video, which ABC News has verified, the driver, who was identified by city council members as Renee Nicole Good, is driving her SUV on a road near ICE officers. As one officer reaches for the SUV’s door handle, the vehicle lurches backward and then begins moving forward, rightward, seemingly away from the officers. One of the officers can be seen firing into the moving vehicle.
Protesters gathered on the city’s streets on Wednesday. And the FBI said in a statement, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”
Noem on Wednesday described the driver’s actions as an “act of domestic terrorism,” saying that an “anti-ICE rioter weaponized her vehicle against law enforcement.”
“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement posted on social media.
State officials on Wednesday pushed back on such characterizations. The state’s attorney general, Keith Elllison, said in a statement that he was “heartbroken” over the shooting, but was also “angry. Very angry.” He accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing the federal government against the people of Minnesota.”
The death amounted to a “policy failure,” Ellison told ABC News in an interview, adding that there would be “an analysis on the use of force here.” Ellison said that the blame appeared to lie in part with Trump, who authorized the deployment, adding, “That’s not to take responsibility from the officer who used deadly force in a situation that does not appear to call for it.”
Walz said on social media, “I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said Wednesday that the department’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working in conjunction with the FBI to investigate the shooting.
The FBI said in a statement on Wednesday, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”
Officials have not released the name of the officer who opened fire.
Trump on Wednesday had said the officer acted in “self defense.”
“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” he said in a post on social media.
When Trump was pressed by the Times on how he drew his conclusions about the incident, the president reportedly had an aide play a video clip from a laptop to reinforce his point.
Asked if he believed firing into a vehicle similar to Wednesday’s shooting is acceptable, Trump reportedly stuck to his position, saying of Good that she “behaved horribly.”
“And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over,” Trump said, according to the repot.
Before playing the clip to the Times reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening.”
When reporters told him the clip he was showing did not appear to show an ICE officer was run over, he told them, “it’s a terrible scene.”
“I think it’s horrible to watch,” Trump said. “No, I hate to see it.”
Ellison told ABC News that after he viewed the video, it was “clear to me” that the deadly force came as the driver was attempting to “evade” the officers, including the one who fatally shot her.
“Renee Good deserves justice, and my office will not look away,” Ellison said on social media on Wednesday evening. “As Attorney General, I will do everything in my power to pursue the truth and ensure accountability and transparency.”
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey speaks with a constituent at a campaign event on October 26, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in a vehicle during operations in Minneapolis on Wednesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The victim was a U.S. citizen who “was an observer” and was “watching out for our immigrant neighbors,” Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez told ABC News.
The woman was allegedly “attempting to run over our law enforcement officers” when an ICE officer fatally shot her, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
McLaughlin said the ICE officer fired “defensive shots,” referring to the woman as part of a group of “rioters.” She did not identify the woman killed or the ICE officer involved in the shooting.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the incident was an “act of domestic terrorism.”
“What had happened was our ICE officers were out in enforcement action, they got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis,” she said during remarks at a press briefing in Texas. “They were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that he is aware of the shooting involving an ICE agent while demanding that ICE leave the city “immediately.”
“The presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement on social media regarding the shooting. “We’re demanding ICE to leave the city immediately. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said his office is working to “gather information on an ICE-related shooting this morning.”
“We will share information as we learn more. In the meantime, I ask folks to remain calm,” he posted on X.
The city of Minneapolis said it is “aware of a shooting involving a federal agent” near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue and urged people to avoid the area.
“We are working to confirm additional information, but what we know is that the presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city and making our community less safe,” the city said in a statement.
A large law enforcement presence could be seen at the scene. Protesters have also gathered, with some seen getting pepper-sprayed by law enforcement.
The Twin Cities are seeing a massive deployment of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents to conduct immigration enforcement and fraud investigations, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans.
As many as 2,000 agents from ICE and HSI could be headed to the Minneapolis area but a source cautioned the number of agents could change.
Sources have told ABC News that as many as 600 HSI agents are being deployed and 1,400 ICE agents could be deployed as part of the increased enforcement operation.
The Trump administration has zeroed in on accusations of fraud at Somali-run childcare centers in recent weeks.
Noem was on the ground in Minneapolis on Tuesday conducting immigration enforcement.
ABC News’ Laura Romero contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
